The rockers, who have just released their fifth album, 48:13, are headlining Glastonbury later this month in the Sunday night slot.

Kasabian have played the Somerset festival a handful of times over the years, but stated that after their last performance there in 2009, they wouldn't return, unless they were topping the bill themselves.

"And we were right to say that," said Serge Pizzorno, the band's songwriter and guitarist.

"God bless Michael and Emily Eavis [the father and daughter organisers], putting a British band up there."

He added: "It's a good tradition, but it's not easy for British rock bands at the moment - there are only a handful left and there are none coming through. Young kids have to see that a British band can play first on the Friday one year, and 10 years later be headlining."

He said of their latest record: "It feels like I've been training 10 years to make this album.

"I've produced the band's other four albums, albeit with a producer with me, but this is solely me. The sound, the balance of hip hop, electronica and late-Sixties rock and psychedelia, all together, is something else. You can hear all those roots, but it also sounds new and exciting."

:: Kasabian's fifth album 48:13 is out now. They play at Plymouth Pavilions on June 17, a giant homecoming gig in Leicester's Victoria Park on June 21 and headline Glastonbury on June 29.